Roxbury Teen Stopped & Frisked For Arguing In Public: BMC Judge Finds 4th Amendment Violation

THE FACTS

Our client was arguing with someone on the street when officers approached and attempted to detain him.  The officers were giving commands for our client to stop, but he continues telling officers that he was leaving the area.  Officers eventually grab our client and frisk him, resulting in his arrest for Carrying a Firearm Without A License.

THE HEARING

Officers from the Boston Police Department’s Youth Violence Strike Force (formerly known as the “Gang Unit”) were on foot in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston when they say a passing motorist informed them of a fight up the street.  Quickly after that, another passing motorist reports the same fight to the officers.  As officers approach, they observe a group of people gathered around two black men.

. . . it looked like they were in a heated argument. . . . they were yelling back and forth.

Before the officers reached the group, the argument was over and our client was making it known that he was leaving without issue.  One officer ordered our client to stop, but our client declined the officer’s demand and kept walking.  Our client sees another officer approaching him from the front, so he turns away and tries to cross the street.  Officers testified that they grabbed our client after observing his attempts to avoid police contact.  Upon grabbing him, the feel what they believe to be a gun in his waistband.  The officers recover an unloaded firearm.

THE RULING

The judge allowed our motion to suppress the gun, and held that when the officer ordered our client to stop, that it constituted a seizure.  The judge further held that our client had every right to avoid contact with the police when he was ordered to stop, because at that point, the officers did not have any legal authority to detain him for questioning or a pat-frisk.